The third entry in the surprisingly quality series of films starting with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, War debuted its first trailer today. Following the second movie, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Caesar leads his army of intellectually-enhanced primates into battle against the remnants of humanity. With humanity on the brink of extinction, the two sides enter a final battle to decide who will rule Earth in the aftermath.
The moral ambiguity from the previous films returns full-fledged in this debut trailer, with Caesar and the leader of the Earth armies blaming the other side for the war and making clear the finality of the conflict. Every shot focuses on the war, naturally. Humans fight humans as well, continuing the idea of the previous movies that some of humanity believes the apes to be on the right side of the war. Caesar returns, of course, opposing Woody Harrelson as the leader of the human armies. Strong atmosphere, great visuals, characters we’re already invested in, it all looks like a promising continuation of a surprisingly good group of films.
Watch the trailer here. And try to ignore that “it will be…a planet of the apes” line. Because that’s pretty bad.
War for the Planet of the Apes is scheduled for release on July 14, 2017. It is directed by Matt Reeves and stars Andy Serkis, Judy Greer, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Gabriel Chavarria, and Karin Konoval.
